Photo-Editing Software: Reviews

Updated March 2010

Tech sources, photography experts and consumer publications agree that you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars on photo editing software. Our research uncovered that you can spend under $100 for basic software - and you can even download free software that has relatively sophisticated features, as you'll see in our picks below. In any case, reviews recommend taking advantage of free trial before spending a cent.

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Best photo-editing software for most

Adobe Photoshop Elements

*Est. $80 Compare Prices

Expert reviews say Adobe Photoshop Elements is the best photo-editing software for enthusiasts. There's plenty of power to handle all but the most sophisticated image-editing tasks, and Elements earns kudos for being… expandeasier to use than most of its competitors. The software's versatile bag of tricks includes features such a tool for resizing parts of images, as well as photomerge, which blends overexposed and underexposed photos to create a more natural final version. Some user reviews take issue with other parts of Elements -- such as its photo organizer -- but most agree that the editor itself is excellent. Photoshop Elements is compatible with Macs and computers running Windows. collapse

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Expert & User Review Sources:

PCMag.com: This review of Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 praises its photo recomposition feature, tight online-service integration, extensive tutorials and overall balance of power and features for the price.

PC World: PC World rates Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 a score of 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Macworld: This enthusiastic review praises the features in Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 but doesn't compare it with any other software except Adobe's pro-level Photoshop CS4.

Amazon.com: Owner-written reviews give Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 an unimpressive average score of 3 stars.

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for $79.99

Free photo organizer

Google Picasa

Free Learn More

Though Google Picasa includes some fairly powerful editing tools, the program continues to shine most brightly as a photo organizer. Features include face-recognition technology, which coupled with name tags gives Picasa… expandthe ability to automatically organize photos by the people that are in the picture. You'll also find geotagging, which automatically sorts photos by where they were taken. The web integration is a perennial plus, making it easy to synchronize edited photos with social networking sites, blogs and personal websites. Google Picasa is available for Mac and Linux computers as well as Windows. collapse

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Expert & User Review Sources:

PCMag.com: This review of Google Picasa 3.5 praises its polished interface, support for RAW camera files, image management and editing capabilities.

Download.com: Download.com gives Picasa 3.6 a score of 4.5 stars out of 5 for organizing, editing and sharing photos, along with an Editors' Choice award.

Macworld: This review praises Picasa 3.5 for its extensive online feature set, simple photo access and organization, and free online-photo-gallery integration.

PC Pro: PC Pro awards the app 5 stars out of 6, saying that its "easy-to-use tagging capabilities, including advanced and effective face recognition, take Picasa 3.5 to the next level." The software earns the magazine's Recommended award.

Free photo-editing software

GIMP

Free Learn More

Though it is available as a free download, GIMP provides such advanced editing tools that it's often recommended as a free alternative to costly Photoshop software. Reviews praise it as easier to use than ever, though… expandlike any advanced software, GIMP has a steep learning curve. Since it's open-source software, it's compatible with Linux as well as Windows and Mac operating systems. collapse

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Expert & User Review Sources:

Arstechnica.com: This is the best review we've found for the most recent version of GIMP. It is pages long, very well illustrated and packed with useful information on how the program works.

Download.com: CNET's Seth Rosenblatt gives GIMP a perfect 5-star rating, saying its developers have succeeded in making it easier to use, and it "provides professional tools that can stand against the big boys." Users also weigh in with ratings and reviews, granting the program 4 stars overall.

PC World: GIMP is briefly reviewed in this round up that covers PC World's take on the best absolutely free photography software, including photo editors.

Bright Hub.com: Although this review of GIMP 2.6 is unpolished and lacks the automatic credibility of a site like PC World, it is well illustrated and objective.

About.com: Sue Chastain, About.com's guide to graphics software, recommends 11 free photo-editing programs, ranking GIMP second but without a full review or documenting any testing -- or even clarifying which version she's talking about.

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Pro-level photo editor and image manager

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

*Est. $275 Compare Prices

Reviews say that Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is fast and easy to use, and that it offers so much editing capability that many professional photographers now turn to it for most of their needs. The program combines image… expandmanagement with advanced and swift editing tools, automatically keeping the original image intact. Though it's especially useful for editing RAW photo files, it's equally adept with JPEG images. You can use Photoshop Lightroom on both a Windows and Mac computer without buying separate versions, another plus. collapse

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Expert & User Review Sources:

Arstechnica.com: Aimed at advanced photographers, this detailed review of Adobe Lightroom 2 compares it with competing software.

Ken Rockwell: Photography enthusiast Ken Rockwell's detailed review of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 illustrates its editing capabilities.

DigitalOutbackPhoto.com: This review, aimed at advanced photographers, highlights the main improvements in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 compared with the first version.

PC World: This review notes many improvements over the previous version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, making the need for Adobe Photoshop less likely.

ImagingInfo.com: This short review of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 highlights its main features, concluding that it can stand alone as an image editor, without Photoshop -- and is just as useful for people who edit JPEG photos as for those who shoot RAW files.

Amazon.com: More than 100 owners give Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 mostly enthusiastic reviews here, with an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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for $239.99

Professional graphics software

Adobe Photoshop

*Est. $665 Compare Prices

Though many photographers will find other programs faster and easier for most photo editing, Adobe Photoshop is still the industry standard for graphic artists and others who need the most advanced image-manipulation… expandtools. However, reviews say that it is overkill for most users -- not only expensive but with a steep learning curve even with the improved interface that was introduced for the current version. Still, Photoshop outclasses every other photo editor available in terms of the number of photo-editing tools available and their power. Just make sure you have a computer that's powerful as well -- including lots and lots of RAM -- so that you can take full advantage of everything Photoshop has to offer. collapse

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Expert & User Review Sources:

PCMag.com: PCMag.com calls Adobe Photoshop CS4 "a highly compelling upgrade" with "awesome powers" and gives the software its Editors' Choice award.

CNET: CNET says usability improvements in Photoshop are commendable and adds that the editing tools are powerful.

PopPhoto.com: This review finds that Adobe Photoshop CS4 not only adds power compared with Photoshop CS3, but unlike previous upgrades, it also has made the program easier to use.

DigitalOutbackPhoto.com: Since this site is aimed at advanced photographers, it's not surprising that Adobe Photoshop CS4 heads the list as the top tool for photo editing -- partly because of all the useful plug-ins available.

Macworld: Lesa Snider King reports that Adobe Photoshop CS4 makes great strides in improving usability.

Amazon.com: More than 30 users have reviewed Adobe Photoshop CS4.

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Corel PaintShop Photo Pro *Est. $100

4 picks by top review sites.

Apple iLife *Est. $80

3 picks by top review sites.

Ulead PhotoImpact *Est. $50

2 picks by top review sites.


	Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate Average Customer Review:


	iLife '09 [OLD VERSION] In Stock. Average Customer Review: